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1.1: In Which Rocket Skis Are Invented
Wow, this record is long. There's a TL;DR at the bottom, you know. Mark XP and go read it if you must, but many epic details have been excluded from it. Audio Version: To all ye who have not the time to read this and would still like to know what was written, I recorded a reading of it. Obviously it will not update with future revisions. I may update it if any large changes are made. Part 1, Part 2 Part 3, Part 4 The Temple Underground: Sajaina, Perlapae, Travize Perlapae and Travize looked down into the high-ceilinged room, visible through the woven vines that served as the floor of the glorified hallway they were in. The pool of water below rippled from Sajaina's plunge. The two glanced at each other, then immediately went after her, Travize taking the form of a bird to flutter down while Perlapae called upon her goddess to float her down on a whirl of whipping wind. Neither was in the right frame of mind to make the attempt so quickly while panicked however, and both landed thirty feet below in a disgruntled and uncomfortable manner. Perlapae helped Sajaina out of the water she had been lucky enough to fall into, getting soaked herself. Chance was not done with them though, as no sooner than Sajaina was out of the pool of water, a hail of rocks from above forced the three to dive for safety. Travize ended up on the wrong side of the wall of rocks, separated from the two women by the cascade. In an effort to remove the rocks, Perlapae called upon Viti's intervention again, asking her to remove the stones, Viti answered by beginning to transmute the rocks into mud. While this did slowly lower the barrier, the weather took this chance to utterly betray them, sending a cascade of rain down through the open ceiling of the room above, through the vines, and onto the newly formed mud. The resulting mud flow, caused by the rain and what we'll call Viti's overeager nature, carried Travize down the opposite hall to a locked door. After hearing that someone was on the other side and willing to help, Travize used his shapeshifting powers to knock the door down (it wouldn't open against the mud) and get inside to meet Jaques, a Laputian man who helpfully provided directions back to the upper floor. Meanwhile, Sajaina and Perlapae sat worrying on the side of the pool of water in that high-ceilinged room. Sajaina's veil had fallen low, revealing both her hair and her mouth. We don't think this was such a big deal, but we're not desert-dwelling folk who take skin-showing all that seriously. After an initial knee-jerk panick, Sajaina decided she was ok with this turn of events, provided no men were around to see it. After all, it WAS only Perlapae, who had proven herself a good friend so far. Of course, the situation was made somewhat surreal for Sajaina who had never seen rain before, what with the rainstorm pouring through from above. We think this reflects very poor temple architecture, by the way. Perlapae spent a few moments calming her down while they decided what to do. The two decided to follow Travize rather than look for another way up. While the wall of rock was steadily transforming into a smaller pile of mud they still had to climb it. Sajaina used her grappling hook to climb over. Then, cleverly using herself as a counterweight, she pulled Perlapae up as well. Though they got themselves completely covered in mud, they were able to follow the flow to meet Jaques. After Perlapae slowed the mud with another prayer and gave poor Sajaina her scarf to hide her face so Jaques could look at them, Jaques gave them directions. Soon, the three were reunited and on their way to the upper levels and their comrades. It developed, however, that Jaques had mistakenly given out two different sets of directions. Unable to flollow both, the three resolved to use the right-left-right directions given to Sajaina and Perlapae. After some walking, they came upon a room filled with light furnishings and a clothing rack, with a locked door off to one side and a second door at the opposite end. Some investigation revealed a secret path, hidden behind a wall tile. Sajaina also spotted a cloak with the symbol of Bartos hidden among the robes of Astor on the rack, along with a master key to the temple. These were, obviously, taken. You don't think Sajaina would just leave them there, do you? I mean gods, how anti-curiosity do you have to be to think that? Also, she made a pretty good point about possibly being able to use the robes as a disguise and, when you think about it, stealing always goes over better with a handy justification. After some initial discussion where Sajaina lectured Travize on the virtues of NOT simply opening doors just because they were closed, the three took the hidden passage, which turned out to overlook another room where priests of Astor were discussing the recent Prophecies of Astor with, of all people, a priest of Bartos. Some extraordinarily interesting eavesdropping later, the three were convinced that this was, in a word, SUSPIIIIICIIIOOOUUUS. The priests of Astor, it seems, were sharing information about people's answered questions with the order of Bartos in exchange for some unspecified 'protection.' They also hoped that the order of Bartos would investigate the potential 'death of all mortal life' implications using their considerable resources but were unable to secure such a promise. The fact that the two clerical orders of Astor and Bartos were, you know, mortal enemies didn't seem to bother them much. Hence the meeting in the secret depths of the temple, we assume. Perlapae coudn't help but feel a lot less guilty about stealing some silly goblet after this point. After the Secret Society of Totally Betraying Astor broke up their meeting, Travize, Perlapae and Sajaina crawled back along their secret passageway in time to hear the priest of Bartos outraged about his missing cloak. We sincerely hope he didn't blame Jaques too much for it, but seeing as the temple is a complete and utter ruin at the moment, we think that is the least of Jaques' problems. Ah, but we're ahead of ourselves. Foreshadowing, you know? Or maybe spoilers? We digress.Where were we? Ah, yes, we were about to talk about how Sajaina's stolen key bought the three a quick access to a locked stairway that turned out to be a shortcut to the upper levels. Neat! Following the stairway, the three discovered that the upper level was now without light. No worries, they stole a light from the lower levels! But what's this? A skittering sound akin to the clicking of hundreds of nails, and a bloody dagger at the top of the stairs besides! Oh dear us! You'll have to wait until later, though, since it's time we discuss the Incident with Baygrith, Timmeron, and Salachi. Upper Temple: The Darkening Ground Sal, Timmeron and Baygrith There always seems to be an Incident when Baygrith and Timmeron are around, did you notice? Things exploding, priceless magical artifacts disintegrating, you know the type. We are generalizing a bit of course, and we can hear the echoes of 'One time, guys, ONE time!' echoing from somewhere. In any event, this one wasn't their fault. Probably. So back on the upper floors. Timmeron, Salachi and Baygrith, our new 'three' which we will refer to for the confusion of everyone, were doing their best to lay down a distraction to cover for their missing party members who had somehow managed to get themselves into the bottom levels with the bejeweled cup they were supposed to be stealthily acquiring. Baygrith was charging his semi-magical wonders of artificiary while the guards were gambling on a fight between Caireann and Grukk. Timmeron and Sal were staring into the room where their missing associates had somehow managed to tear a hole in the vine-woven floor. Good show, that. Very stealthy. Realizing that they could possibly cover up for them,Sal pointed to a pile of rocks on the roof and told Timmeron to magic them down as an excuse for the vine-tearing. Timmeron drew upon his reserves of arcane might, directing the awesome power of time magic towards the loosened stones. His power turned out to be a bit too strong for him to control and he accidentally loosened a small avalanche of stone which, well, avalanched through the open ceiling and into the vine-woven floor. You'll recall that Perlapae, Sajaina and Travize had to dodge a cascade of fallen rocks. Guess where they came from? The floor was now equipped with several holes, but now with a quite good explanation. Either fortuitously or ominously, the weather took this chance to fix itself into the beginnings of a thunderstorm. We like to imagine that the sky was frowning vigorously about what was going to happen next. Hearing the commotion, several priests abandoned the distraction being played out in the other room to investigate the destruction of their very artistic, vine-laden hallway. So distraught were they that they didn't even yell at Timmeron for being out of his room. He told them that Perlapae was missing and that Sajaina and Travize were in the bathroom. They sent him to his room and tried not to pull out their hair while they fretted over the damage to their beautiful hallway. Meanwhile, Caireann and Grukk had stopped their duel since they no longer had an audience to distract. They were resting to Salachi's music and the faint sizzle and flicker of Baygrith's mystifying charge-up procedure. Baygrith finished charging his devices as Timmeron returned in a slight fever of worry. After describing his small lie regarding the whereabouts of their colleagues, Baygrith elected to help by using his Sonic Emitter Torch to project a conversation between Travize and Sajaina in the bathroom. While it wouldn't stand up to close inspection, it would provide support for the alibi. Also, who's going to go into the bathroom to check? Gross. Some time passed and, after these three realize Travize and Sajaina would probably be discovered to be not in the bathroom if they left things as they are, Timmeron made a show of pacing, pounding on the bathroom door, then calling out to get the attention of those supposedly inside. He then ran to the priests in the vine-room and told them that Travize and Sajaina were missing as well. They exasperatedly informed him that they were sending a search party for Perlapae and they would tell them to look for the other two as well. Baygrith reclaimed his sound-torch-which-doesn't-make-any-fire. At all. A few minutes later with the group gathered back in the room, the lights went out. You know it's a very ominous moment when the lights go out. I mean, light and dark is practically the most archetypal example of opposed duality, and light is definitively what we mortals prefer to live in! Both Timmeron and Sal felt a strong spell pass through the room at the same time that the lights went out, though only Timmeron was able to identify the rough origins of the spell. It came, as far as the gnome was able to determine, from what we're calling either the Room of Prophecy or The Questioning Hall, whichever gets you more excited. Of course, when the lights go out, the absolute LAST thing any reasonable person does is wait to see if they'll come back on. Except Caireann and Grukk who came down the a severe case of the Syndrome, a curious illness that causes people to behave more like passive, background characters in a novel than actual people. It comes and goes and can seem to effect people for scant hours or days at a time. So thus it was that only Baygrith, Sal and Timmeron went to investigate the source of the spell, and possibly the darkness as well. They needed a light first, naturally. Baygrith employed his natural talent for inventing to create a candle entirely out of cloth scraps offered by Sal, as well as some spare wax he found laying around. Don't ask us how, but it was very impressive logistics-wise. We're just lucky they ignited it without setting the heavens themselves on fire. Poking their heads into the vine-room to check on their Astorian friends, they found a most disturbing sight. While before there had been some holes in the vines from before, what they encountered now put that to shame. The walls and shelves were noticeably blackened, the vines all burned to ashes. Their tiny island of light could not reach far enough to see the full extent of the damage, but they did not find any priests. We hope they weren't all incinerated, but it's probably better than what might have happened to them if they were alive for the next few scenes. With the creepy-factor slowly climbing, thunder and rain pounding upon the falls from outside, the three men made their way around to one of the entrances to the Hall of Prophecy. Yes, we think we like that name better. More dramatic. Anyway, they enter the room with their guttering candle all aflicker in a breeze they know shouldn't be reaching this far into the temple. The door hangs from its hinges as though some great force has torn it open, rather than using the doorknob like a sensible person. Their tiny, dancing light reveals to them only a small sliver of the world, the ground behind them retreating into darkness like sand before the sea. The light laps at the shadows, serving only to underline their oppressive nature. Caution is the trio's tool as they slowly creep forward, inching around the door, weapons and spells at the ready for some catastrophe to unfold upon them. But when catastrophe strikes, it is not in the way they expected. The unknown breeze is the hand of darkness here, reaching into their circle of frail light and overwhelming their candle's flame. Sightless, they creep forward, hands or weapons outstretched, searching ever onward. Sal's bardic training tells him the worst is yet to come and that, if this were a play, this is right where the bodies would be found. Stumbling over the first step leading up to the High Priest's dais, it is indeed Sal whose hands come away from a faintly warm something, covered in coppery-smelling damp. Blind and driven mad by nerves and curiosity, the trio decide, quite sensibly we think, to leave the room. But in the dark of that wide, open space, they found themselves turned around badly. They searched, but were met only with a solid wall rather than a door. Baygrith and Sal suddenly found themselves falling down a flight of stairs, though they quickly stopped their fall. From part-way down they found they could see the faintest of lights from the bottom of the staircase. Choosing to investigate, they discovered a flickering light, of the magical variety, which was not snuffed out by whatever had cast the temple into darkness. With some fiddling, Baygrith managed to remove it from the wall. A brief discussion followed where the three considered the merits of allowing the dwarf to jury-rig their only source of light into something amazing. This amazingness was deemed too risky, however, and the group decided to return to the room above with their light. The light itself, if we may remark upon it, was a pale, pathetic one. It dimmed and brightened unpredictably, barely able to rival the moon on a clear night at its best, but was frequently not even as generous as that. But in its light, Sal, Timmeron and Baygrith made their way up the stairs to the Dais of the High Priest of Astor, where they found nothing more than the High Priest's clothing, neatly abandoned as though he'd been stolen away by Astor himself. Choosing to take some of the abandoned rings and the like, none of it magical, sadly, the trio did their best to return to the room in a timely fashion. Opening the door, they were greeted with two new mysteries. One, the complete lack of Caireann and Grukk. The second? A scritching sound like hundreds of nails grating and clicking against stone, coming from the other side of the wall. Up From Beneath Sajaina, Travize, Perlapae It wasn't that things weren't already taking a turn for the worse. The priest of Bartos was already kinda bad and answered practically NO questions while raising a hundred more. It's just that, finding a bloody knife on the ground was not at all a good sign. Travize picked it up to study it while Sajaina listened at the door. The scritching, scratching, clicking sound was probably what did it, made the air tense and heavy. The three did not expect to see their priestly friends again. If Sal were there, or if Sajaina had cared to slip into Bard Mode for a moment, either could have easily said “Duh.” There was little for it, however, so after peeking around the door to reveal a wide room open to the sky, Sajaina slipped through to scout ahead. Both Travize and Perlapae were surprised at the ease with which she slipped into the shadows and disappeared from sight. Some nervous praying and drawn-out tension later, Sajaina returned with the 'all clear' sign. Perlapae and Travize joined her in the open-roofed courtyard, themselves looking around as if they might see something Sajaina had missed. The storm was sending crashes of thunder against their ears on occasion, and the rain served only to make them damp and cold. It may have, at least, helped wash away some of the mud, so there's that. The temple layout was frustrating to deal with. They did not know where they were or how to get back to the main rooms to meet with their friends. Travize suggested they climb atop the roof to get some perspective and Sajaina, her grappling hook in hand, managed it easily, helping the other two up after her. They spent some few minutes gathering their bearings, while Perlapae and Sajaina discussed ways to get around to the front of the temple. Perlapae spotted some shadowy movement on one of the mountainous, stony outcroppings against which the temple of Astor was built but none of the three could identify it properly in the dark of the storm. Travize took the form of an owl briefly to see if night-vision would help. His rapid return to human form both surprised the others and made them nervous. What he saw made him want to run, and the others could find no reason to disagree. They'd found the source of the horrible clicking noises. Upper Temple II: The Skittering Baygrith, Timmeron and Sal MEETS Travize, Sajaina and Perlapae Things were certainly turning out awfully. With their comrades gone, the trio figured that the most sensible option was to get the hell out of there and see if they could find someone. Returning to the Room of Prophecy, they caught sight of a hole they had not seen before. Baygrith was able to see that it was not made by accident- it was blasted through using some spell or device, but they couldn't tell whether whatever had done the deed had been leaving or coming in. It was high up on the wall, in a corner where two walls met the ceiling. They had no hopes of reaching it, and it looked too small to fit Sal through easily. The three made their way back down the stairs they had initially fallen down, figuring that it was the best way to explore- especially if there might be more light. They noticed that their light was fading, possibly about to die, so Timmeron called up his reserves of magical power, taxing himself but turning back time for the light so it would last them longer. Together, they ventured down the unexplored hallway. The light they had found seemed their only one, but its light was just enough for them to find their way down the hallway to the corner where the hallway turned. Eventually, it lead to a room with ceiling open to the stormy heavens, much like the courtyard Sajaina and her companions had found. Trying one of the doors leading out of the room, the trio found themselves confronted by a dead-end of sorts. Bodies littered the ground, throwing off the metallic stench of blood and viscera that accompanies such things. What's worse, the scritching noises were back, and getting louder. Have we built them up enough? Are you irritated with us yet? Good. Terrifying abominations from beyond the veil of time and space, lithe, writhing, skittering things, suddenly descended upon them. The void spawn, tools of the Dragon Wings, were here! And they were ugly. Not even a mother could love that lack of faces and proper anatomy! Standing strong, the trio fought back! Sal, his sweet hand dashing back and forth with his rapier, stabbed at the advancing things to keep them at bay. Baygrith drew upon his artificer cunning, hurling gobs of caustic chemicals upon the advancing nightmare. Poor, overtaxed Timmeron drew again upon his magic, casting into the floor a cancer of age that crept out, causing the ground beneath their foes to crumble. So what if he hadn't meant the aging to spread to the whole floor, it worked and no-one needed to know it hadn't been on purpose! Fleeing from as much from the crumbling floor as from the void spawn, the trio abandoned the room, slamming doors and open and closed as they went, anything to get that swarm of darkness to stay away. Sal drew upon the sweet songs of his trade to twine chords of healing around his friends, easing their aches as they ran. The trio soon found themselves running up the stairs to a tower and slammed the trap door that lead inside once they got there. They found themselves in a bedroom of sorts, so of course they tipped the bed and shelves over onto the trap door to keep it shut. Heathens. But then, we'd probably have done the same if we were being chased by void spawn. Through the window, a flash of lightening revealed an interesting sight to Timmeron. Three figures raced along the rooftops, chased by a giant void creature. This could not have been better news! The three, it happens, were Travize, Perlapae and Sajaina! Deciding that they should probably stop their friends from being devoured by a void monstrosity, Baygrith wove bed sheets together to make a rope they could climb down. Then, they tore open the window and began a wind-buffeted decent to the rooftops below. The bedsheets tore, catapulting Baygrith to what would have been an uncomfortable landing were it not for his clockwork rocket boots which performed flawlessly and all three made it down safely. The three looked up in time to see Travize, having taken the form of a bear, charge the horrid thing. He was swatted away, however and the void spawn seemed to have its eyes on Sajaina. Perlapae called upon the favor of her goddess and hurled the dark creature away from Sajaina with a blast of air. Travize tried to complete the shove, pushing the creature off of the rooftop. While he pushed it a little, he was stabbed hard for his efforts and the thing kept its eyes on Sajaina. For her part, Sajaina had formulated her own plan. She locked eyes with the creature and backed away to another section of rooftop, trying to lure it in. Perlapae took another shot at hurling it from the rooftops, catching Travize instead and sending him spinning. Timmeron, Baygrith and Sal ran to help, but as they advanced, the thing charged Sajaina. Unable to reach her as fast as it liked, it let loose a hail of black spikes, which Sajaina dodged. She tripped, however, and landed on a ceiling tile that sank in a little before catching. She knew it was there, of course. She's a rogue! We mean, uh, multi-talanted bard with kleptomania! She'd been hoping to lure the void beast onto it and was overjoyed to see the trap could still be sprung. The thing lunged at her, falling right into her trap, but seriously cramping her style in the process. At the last second, Perlapae dove in front of Sajaina, taking the blow meant for her and throwing her out of the way. Sajaina dragged Perlapae away as the void spawn triggered the trap, falling into a hole in the roof and getting itself stuck. The Skittering II: Death From Above Baygrith, Sal, Travize and Timmeron Approaching the fray quickly, Baygrith and Sal advanced on the trapped creature and began assisting in its death. Baygrith drew forth one of his gadgets which he called the Lancerator, aiming it at the trapped beast. To all appearances a small, metal pen of sorts, he pressed a button which caused a spear point to erupt outward, stabbing at the thing. Sal joined in here, ducking fast and low with his rapier, darting here and there to get in some well-placed shots. All the while, the void spawn lashed out with claws and jaws, laying about it pain and skittering fury. Timmeron leaped from the roof to land next to Travize, quickly administering a drought of healing to the poor bear. He seemed worried about the fate of the world resting on Travize's death and thought that maybe a few hours after the prediction had been given might not be the best time to snuff it. With a grunt of thanks, Travize picked up the gnome, tiny compared to his ursine bulk, and himself leaped back onto the roof to join the fight again. With the might of a bear and a time-mage added, Salachi stepped back and begin to play inspiring songs of courage to bolster his allies with subtle but strong magic. In anger at its constant pain, as well as, we do not doubt, horror at its own likely demise, the void-beast let out a piecing cry. More of the little ones, Void Skitters we have decided to call them, began pouring over the rooftop, headed straight for their endangered, um, brood mate? Timmeron slowed them down by altering apparent time around them while Baygrith, Bard and Bear continued to beat on the ensnared Void Hunter. The black thing wriggled and writhed, eventually managing to free itself. Unable to hols to the roof, it fell almost thirty feet into the pit-trap some Astorian priest had prepared. Baygrith dove down upon it with his Lancerator while Travize and Timmeron dealt with some of the Void Skitters. Sal, ever the helpful soul, sang his songs of healing to revitalize his friends. Travize joined Baygrith after a moment, diving down upon the Void Hunter, soon joined by Sal who plummeted into it with his Rapier point-down. The things was finished when Baygrith launched his Lancerator, point blank, into whatever passed for the thing's face. Time magic wearing thin, Timmeron dove in the hole after his comrades, caught by the bear who put him down and took human form again. Deciding to put the Void Skitters behind them, the four left in search of Perlapae and Sajaina. An Orc Walks Into A Temple... Sajaina and Perlapae Sometimes the universe just decides to smile upon you. If we were talking about Astor, we'd make some joke about him having seen this whole thing coming, but since we're not, we won't. Dragging Perlapae out of harms way so she could recover her wits, Sajaina spotted movement in one of the open-ceilinged rooms below. Of all things, it was an orc! Cloaked and walking with purpose, this guy might be responsible for calling down the Void Spawn upon the temple. It was a good assumption to make, anyway, since, you know, ORC traveling with a bunch of extra-dimensional horrors pretty much screams Dragon Wings Sky Pirate Club. The two ladies ran down to follow the orc quickly and quietly, doing their level best to avoid detection. They managed this fairly well until they spotted him in the Room of Prophecy, trying to cast some kind of spell. Standard operating procedue on adventure like this: do NOT allow the void-beast summoning asshat who is likely responsible for causing all of this death to finish casting spells. So, of course, Sajaina stabbed him. Slipping in and out of the shadows like flickering night, she stepped in, sunk her daggers into the orc's back, then slipped away again. Perlapae tried to repel him, keeping him off balance, but Viti was not accommodating. As the orc turned to see what had hit him, Sajaina struck again, dancing out of his sight for a second time and causing the orc no end of frustration. The third time he caught her, though, and drew his blade to face her in open combat. In a whirl of flashing blades and quick steps, the two danced that cruel ballet of attrition and death, running down the clock of blood that keeps time for such fights. Perlapae was not about to allow Sajaina to go it alone however, and her fervent prayers to Viti swept across Sajaina, warding her flesh with mischievous breezes and knitting closed her more major injuries. Death From Above: Same Name, Different Cause Sajaina and Perlapae MEETS Travize, Baygrith, Salachi and Timmeron It was onto this scene that their friends stumbled. The orc, laughing before, growled something about unfairness as a rapier stabbed him in the side and a Lancerator barely missed his head. He ran. His combatants, now numbering six, gave chase. Travize took the form of a wild dog and caught up to the hopeless orc without much trouble. Quick to follow were Sajaina and Timmeron, attacking with blades and staff. As the others caught up to him, the orcs body started to give out. He couldn't hope to keep up with so many adversaries and quickly collapsed beneath the pressure of Lancerators, swords, staves, claws and magic. Travize dove atop him and held him down with jaws locked about his neck. Given a moment to interrogate the man, Sal wove about him a compulsion of song, promising true answers for truth in return. Yes, it turns out he WAS an orc sky pirate. Yeah, he was at least partially responsible for the Void Beasts, which apparently could not be recalled, at least not by him. Sajaina wanted to know if he could take the group to his airship, hoping that they could stop the onslaught of void beasts from the source. Yes, in fact he could. But some debate about whether or not this was a good course of action arose. Though the group eventually decided to give it a try, Travize had to be coaxed into loosening his jaws and taking human form again so that the orc could make good his offer. Laughing all the while, the orcish man drew forth a wad of wool soaked in chemicals, which he set alight and cast into the sky. It erupted in bright, red light, a signal for the airship to approach the temple. The question of whether or not this was a good thing was quickly answered as, with only a few seconds glance at the situation, the orcish crew decided to incinerate the party of six with their magical sky-cannons. Oops. At least the orcish bastard who summoned them got caught in the shot and exploded. Some of the party were caught in the last as well, becoming seriously injured. Immediately taking the chance to flee, all six of the group bolted into the temple and out of line of sight. Eruptions of light and thunder followed them through the hallways as parts of the temple disintegrated under the assault of energy cannons. But, as intense pressure will often do, the grave peril sparked an idea. After asking Timmeron to confirm that the cannons were magical, Travize suggested that they should lure the airship down onto the mountain where the God of Extraordinarily Specific Pet Peeves, Astor, had forbidden the use of magic. This sparked a unanimous change of course and a mad-dash to the side of the mountain. Perlapae and Salachi doing their best to close any major injuries before they hit the No Magic Zone, the group dashed out of the tmple. As fortune would have it, they stumbled upon some sleds and skis, which they made use of at once. Timmeron, Salachi and Travize managed to fit themselves onto one sleigh, with Travize hiding on Sal's lap as a mouse to avoid over encumbering the thing, and Sajaina and Perlapae took another sled. Baygrith grabbed the Skis, a glint of eager mischief in his eye. He announced that he would need a minute and Timmeron used his time powers to slow down the recharge of the airship's cannons to allow for it. With alacrity and precision, Baygrith affixed his rocket boots to the skis and followed the group down with a blast of roaring flame and a whoop of exaltation. Truly it was a sight to behold. Baygrith practically flew down the mountain, overtaking the others and rocketing ahead. We think this spectacle should have a song written about it, but as we aren't musicians, we'll leave that to someone else. While Baygrith sped forward, it appeared that the way before him was blocked. The void spawn had somehow made it down the mountain ahead of the group and it was Baygrith they would meet first. His rocket boots were not to be underestimated however, and he ended the beast that got in his way with a ski through the eyes. He lost his balance, though, sending him and the dead shadow stuck to his foot careening down the mountain in a desperate struggle against momentum and gravity. Managing to steer around the intervening void spawn, Perlapae and Sajaina caught up to Baygrth. Deciding, as she had before, that her new allies were more important than the retribution of Astor, Perlapae calle out to her godess, invoking her divine magic to pull the slain void spawn from Baygrith's ski. Whether on purpose, or due to Viti's intervention, Astor seemed to miss the priestess when he sent a bolt of lightening in retaliation for magic on his mountain. At the same time, Sajaina tossed Baygrith her grappling hook, dragging him upright and keeping him on course, almost like flying a kite. A blazing, dwarf artificer kite propelled by rocket skis, but still. Timmeron, Salachi and Travize were less expert at guiding their sled and managed to drift into a section of woods. Some quick steering by Timmeron, as well as the careful use of a staff for rapid course correction, allowed the three to avoid thick patches of trees and underbrush which may have spelled a painful plummet for them. They were now thoroughly separated from their friends, however. The orcish airship had followed, of course. The temple of Astor now smoked and sputtered, walls crumbling or ablaze from repeated strikes with the magical cannons the crew were firing. Timmeron's magic had delayed them only so long and they were now in perfect position for another shot.They charged their cannons, building of a shining pulse of blazing light that would surly reduce anything it hit to dust. They took aim at Perlapae and Sajaina. They pulled the trigger. And promptly exploded as Astor struck them down for the crime of employing magic on his sacred bit of rock. Perhaps he smote harder than was strictly necessary due to the orcish assault on his temple, or maybe it was just one HELL of a pet peeve and he didn't care about the temple. We don't know and are not sure which would be better, morally speaking. Both companies glided to a stop in their own ways, now facing a difficult task: Survival on a frigid mountain with limited supplies, little idea where to find their friends, uncertainty about where to find help, and little navigational skills between them. Also, Grukk and Caerinn were still missing. We really do hope they got out of the temple. Jury-Rigging Safety Sajaina, Baygrith and Perlapae Team Rocket Kite, their new nick-name forever just so you know, found that they had poor protection against the cold, though they had plenty of supplies to share. After a rough stop with a little tumbling involved, they elected to work together to pull the sled back up the mountain to where pieces of exploded airship littered the ground. Many of them were smoking, and smoke meant fire. Fire, of course, is very handy on a frozen mountain. It took them almost twenty minutes of hard walking, the sub-zero temperatures assaulting the three the whole way. Their limbs began to feel the oxymoronic burn of frostnip as they climbed, and the rain definitely didn't help. Frozen droplets clinging to clothes, they huddled close around the choking smoke of the wrecked airship engine. The smoke stung lungs and eyes, but the heat was well worth the irritation. After some time to warm up, Baygrith got to work, enlisting the women in his tinkering. They labored for a few minutes, breaking up the engine and scavenging other pieces of the airship to build a rudimentary shelter which used overheated parts of the engine as heat sources. Sharing around rations and melted ice, they settled in for a cozy night which they hoped would not include toxic chemical poisoning from engine fumes. The Cave of Warmth! And Maybe Bears Timmeron, Salachi and Travize Team Bad at Steering came to a somewhat gentler stop on a plateau of the mountain, which, Sal knew, was not technically part of the mountain proper. It was, therefore, not subject to the No Magic Zone of Astor. Travize took the opportunity to take the shape of a snow bird he had studied at the temple to fly around and investigate the landscape. He spotted two things of note, including a man-made structure that could be a tiny supply station overrun with ice, as well as a stone outcropping that looked like a cave entrance. He returned to the group, reporting back on what he had seen. Together, they decided that shelter was their first priority and that the cave was their best bet They could explore the supply station in the morning when the temperature improved but if they waded around in the snow at night, especially in the rain, they would quickly freeze to death. They made their way to the cave, discovering some droppings on the floor, but it appeared to be otherwise unoccupied. Huddling in, they joined their fortuitous supply of walking sticks, which they had been given on the way up, as well as the staff Timmeron had broken while steering, in order to make a fire. Travize used the formerly bloody knife he'd picked up at the temple to shave off some tinder while some generous effort from Sal and Timmeron got a spark going and a fire started. The three huddled together, Travize choosing to sleep as a bear for added warmth, and settled in for a night they hoped would not include being eaten by whatever may have lived here before they arrived. TL;DR: Mark reading XP. 1: Perlapae, Sajaina and Travize went into the temple basement, mostly to rescue Sajaina. They overheard a conversation between some priests of Astor who were giving Prophetic Question details to a priest of Bartos. They found a stairway up. Yaay. 2: Timmeron, Sal and Baygrith distracted some guards, made an alibi for their friends, and waited a bit. The lights went out and they had to investigate the source of the disturbance in The Force. Peeps be dead, yo. 3: Travize, Sajaina and Perlapae climb onto roof, are attacked by a void-spawn hunter thing and try to fight it. Sajaina lures it into a trap! 4: Baygrith, Timmeron and Sal run away from a bunch of void spawn they stumble on to! They climb a tower and barricade themselves in, then see their friends fighting a void hunter out the window and climb down to join in the fun. 5: The big void hunter dies, wee! But Sajaina spots an Orc sky pirate and stalks after it, dragging Perlapae with her. Sajaina starts stabbing it as Perlapae heals her from around the corner. They are joined by their friends who also stab it! 6: Orc is told to summon air ship or die. Sky pirate airship shows up and kills Orc, firing pew pew lasers at party as well. Oops! 7: Epic chase down mountain follows. Party tricks Airship into firing its magical energy weapons at them while on the sacred "no-magic" mountain, and the Airship is promptly blown up by divine intervention. Rocket Skis are invented by Baygrith. Weeeeeeeeeeee! 8: Party is separated and trapped on a freezing mountain with limited supplies and no shelter. They make do for the night (Travize, Timmeron, Sal find a natural cave--Baygrith, Sajaina, Perlapae create one out of smoking airship rubble) and hope tomorrow brings happy sunshine and rainbows. Category:Quests